Three Dead, Four Wounded During Stabbing Spree

A man fatally stabbed at least two people Tuesday in a bizarre rampage south of Boston that began with a car crash in a residential area and ended when an off-duty officer shot and killed him inside a shopping mall, local and state police said.

The string of assaults began around 7 p.m. when Arthur Darosa, 28, crashed a car outside a home in Taunton, Mass., then walked inside and stabbed two women, according to a statement by Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.

One of the victims, who was 80, died later at a local hospital.

Darosa then jumped in a car and drove to the Silver City Galleria mall, Quinn said. After crashing the car in front of a Macy’s department store, he went inside and attacked several people before running off to a Bertucci’s restaurant where he stabbed four more people.

One of those victims, a 56-year-old Taunton man, later died.

Darosa, who was from Taunton, located 39 miles south of Boston, was shot and killed at the Silver City Galleria by an off-duty deputy sheriff.

“It appears that but for the actions of the deputy sheriff, there may very well have been other victims,” Quinn said. “I want to extend my heartfelt prayers and sympathies to the victims of this horrific violence.”

Authorities said they did not see an ongoing threat from the attacks. “The suspect’s motive remains under investigation but at this point we are aware of no nexus to terrorism,” state police said in a statement.

DaRosa’s father and sister tell WBZ-TV that the suspect was admitted to Morton Hospital on Monday after having suicidal thoughts, but was released early Tuesday. They tell WBZ that DaRosa, who had two children, had suffered in the past from psychiatric issues but refused to take medication.

The incident rattled shoppers at the regional mall. The city is 39 miles south of Boston.